Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Normally I take a very dim view of protests which inhibit my freedom of travel, among other annoyances some protests create.I don't have a strong view of this taxi protest. A lot of that is because it seems the London officials are playing favorites at the expense of the local taxi driver.

Never seen one, but I think those black taxis are just so cool. If ever in London, I will ride in one, for certain I would not try to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the street.

Cab drivers create gridlock in Games Lane protest

Blaring their horns, the cabbies took their case to Parliament Square, creating gridlock in the heart of the capital. with the jam swiftly spreading to Millbank and Whitehall.

London’s iconic black cabs are being excluded from the 30 miles of games lanes, which have been reserved for Olympic competitors, officials and sponsors.

Dubbed “Zil lanes” by critics, they come into force on Wednesday next week. Drivers who transgress face a £130 fine.

The restrictions will ban drivers from the lanes, making journey times across the capital longer and dearer for passengers.

Many cab drivers have said they will leave London during the Games rather than put up with the frustration of navigating the capital’s traffic.

"There will be no access to these lanes for any traffic apart from the Olympics family.

"Taxis are excluded, which is unacceptable and wrong. This is a working city and we need to get around and do our job," said Jonathan Myers, of the United Cabbies group union.

“We've come to Parliament so MPs can wake up and hear what we're talking about."

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Bad enough nobody in Iran is allowed to drink a glass of ice cold beer, but now the morality police close coffee shops.Yep

Seems those who frequent such places flout Islamic Law. You know things like women smoking. Accessing the Internet. Maybe even boys and girls speaking to each other freely.

Iran shuts down coffee shops in morality crackdown

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian police shut down dozens of restaurants and coffee shops over the weekend, Iranian media reported, in a renewed crackdown on what the state sees as immoral and un-Islamic behavior.

Regular officers and members of the "morality police" raided 87 cafes and restaurants in a single district of the capital Tehran on Saturday and arrested women for flouting the Islamic dress code, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

"These places were shut for not following Islamic values, providing hookah to women, and lacking proper licenses," said Tehran police official Alireza Mehrabi, according to ISNA. Women are not allowed to smoke hookah, water pipes, in public.